Grocery shopping bags



March 12, 1957 FIGI.

A. R. CHISHOLM GROCERY SHOPPING BAGS Filed May '19. 1955 United States Patent GROCERY SHOPPING BAGS Arron R. Chisholm, East Orange, N. J. Application May 19, 1955, Serial No. 509,630 1 Claim. (Cl. 224-45) This invention relates to carriers for filled paper bags or parcels, and more particularly to a carrier or sling by means of which weighty parcels, bags or other articles can be readily manually carried.

In many markets and other stores, the housewife purchasing a substantial amount of groceries or other goods is faced with the problem of carrying a paper bag filled with these weighty commodities. Very often the bag will burst under the weight of its contents. Moreover, when a heavy load is imposed on a paper bag, the trans portation of it, and particularly when it is not provided with handles, becomes a problem.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a carrier which will receive and hold a paper bag and the weighty contents thereof in a manner to enable them to be easily carried. It is an object of the invention to provide a carrier of this kind which will be collapsible or foldable and easily portable particularly when in its unfilled condition. It is a further object of the invention to provide a carrier which can be very inexpensively made from fabric or other sheet material; which can be imprinted with advertising matter and given gratis to store customers for its advertising value, and which will be found a great convenience for shoppers.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

Fig. 1 is a face view of a carrier or sling made in ac cordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the carrier in position of use, showing how the same receives a filled paper bag;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the carrier, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The body of the carrier or sling can be composed of any suitable strong, but relatively light, sheet material, such as a lightweight canvas, or other textile material, or possibly of a suitable sheet plastic. The body 1 is substantially rectangular in shape and is doubled upon itself as indicated at 4 to form a bottom for a loop or sling, to the upper ends of the walls 16 and 17 of which are secured the loop-shaped handles 2 and 3, which may be composed of heavy fabric tape or leather, and can be secured to the body as by the stitches 15 or by rivets or equivalent fastening means.

The side walls 16 and 17 are connected together by tape loops or straps 5 and 6, the ends of the loop 5 being attached to the walls 16 and 17 by the stitching 7, while the opposite ends of the loop 6 are attached respectively to the walls 16 and 17 by the stitching 8. At the opposite side of the carrier is provided a tape or strap 9, which has one end fixedly attached to the wall 17 by the stitching 10, and provided near its opposite end is a snap fastener element 11 adapted for detachable engagement with a complementary snap fastener element 14 (Fig. 4) provided on the wall 16 near one of its edges.

It will thus be apparent that the loops 5 and 6 serve ice as guards or closures for one side of the loop-shaped carrier, while the tape 9 will serve as a guard or closure for the opposite side when in its open position shown in Fig. 1. When the snap fastener elements 11 and 14 are engaged, the bag or package 12 that has been placed within the carrier, will be held in place in the same and cannot slip out through one or the other of the sides of the carrier, being held from doing so by the loops 5 and 6 and strap 9.

From the foregoing the manner of use of the carrier will be readily understood. With the strap 9 in its open condition or that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it will be apparent that the bag 12, containing commodities 13, can be readily placed in the carrier through the open side thereof. The strap 9 is thereupon closed by the engagement of the fastener elements 11 and 14 and the bag and its contents will then be confined within the holder. The holder and its contained bag and contents may now be readily picked up and carried by the handles 2 and 3 which project above the top of the carrier in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive.

The entire device may, if desired, be composed of relatively thin but strong textile material, and it may thus be very conveniently collapsed and folded when not in use. It is quickly fitted on a bag and the bag quickly removed from the carrier when the user reaches home. The side walls 16 and 17 of the carrier form surfaces of substantial area which can be used for advertising purposes enabling a store keeper or a manufacturer to give away these bags gratis while advertising his products by imprinting data regarding the same on the carrier.

While I have herein shown some of the straps as being permanently attached at both ends to the carrier, they can, if desired, be made similarly to the strap 9 for detachable engagement at one end.

Having described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claim.

What I claim is:

A carrier or sling for the transportation of a filled paper bag comprising, a substantially rectangular section of flexible sheet material of a width at least equal to that of the bag to be carried, said section being doubled upon itself into loop formation and providing spaced panels which are at least equal in width to a bag placed between them and in the loop connecting them, each panel having a handle at the top, spaced straps extending between the panels at one side of the carrier to provide guard mean-s for that side of the carrier, one of the straps being located relatively close to the upper ends of the panels and a second strap being relatively close to the loop portion, both ends of the straps being permanently attached to the respective panels whereby such straps will definitely limit the extent of separation of the panels, and a guard strap at the opposite side of the carrier, the said guard strap being positioned substantially midway between the straps at the first-mentioned side of the carrier, the guard strap having one end permanently attached to one of the panels and having its opposite end adapted for detachable securement to the second panel so that a filled paper bag may be slid sideways into the carrier between the panels when the guard strap is released, the carrier being capable of being flattened for convenient transport when not in use.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 741,400 Harrington Oct. 13, 1903 1,672,322 Keiser et al. June 5, 1928 1,861,431 Crawford May 31, 1932. 2,723,067 Fretz Nov. 8, 1955- 

